Back in 2015, the San Antonio Spurs had the 26th and 55th pick in the NBA Draft, but their assistant GM at the time, Sean Marks, reached out to D’Angelo Russell as part of the Spurs draft due diligence. DLo wound up the No. 2 pick, taken by the Lakers.
Two years later, Marks, now with the Nets, traded Brook Lopez to L.A. for Russell. He felt comfortable going after DLo. The trade ultimately led to the Nets getting Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.